The Erie County Medical Examiner said Nurul Amin Shah Alam “was placed into a hostile environment” that resulted in a burst ulcer triggered by stress, hypothermia and dehydration.
Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gail Burstein and County Executive Mark Poloncarz answer questions about Shah Alam autopsy. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker.
The death of Rohingya refugee Nurul Amin Shah Alam has been ruled a homicide, according to the Erie County Medical Examiner.
Homicide, the medical examiner’s office said in a statement, can include death by negligence. In Shah Alam’s case, an autopsy appears to pin that negligence on the Border Patrol agents who left him February 19 at a closed Tim Hortons in the Riverside neighborhood, some five miles from his home. Shah Alam died five days later outside the KeyBank Center hockey arena.
Shah Alam, the autopsy notes, “was placed into a hostile environment that he could not reasonably be expected to extricate himself.”
The Medical Examiner’s office said Wednesday that a burst ulcer in Shah Alam’s small intestine caused his death. Exposure to the February cold and a lack of water — hypothermia and dehydration — “precipitated” the ulcer, the Medical Examiner’s office said.
At a press conference Wednesday, Dr. Gale Burstein, the Erie County Commissioner of Health, said Shah Alam had developed a serious “stress ulcer” that, when it burst, ruptured his small intestine.
“All that acid and other digestive secretions spill out into the [body cavity],” Dr. Burstein said. “It’s not something that people can live with … for a very long period of time. It’s a medical emergency.”
What remains unclear is when Shah Alam developed the ulcer, whether while incarcerated at the Erie County Holding Center or after he was transferred to Border Patrol custody. Burstein and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Wednesday they couldn’t comment on that point.
Video of Shah Alam being dropped off at Tim Hortons.
Terrence Connors, an attorney representing Shah Alam’s wife and sons, termed the Border Patrol’s actions “irresponsible and we intend to seek justice for his family and bring focus on the failures so that this never happens again.”
Connors shared a small portion of the autopsy’s findings with Investigative Post but declined to provide a copy of the full report. Erie County officials said Wednesday they were prohibited by state law from releasing the report.
In a brief interview, Connors said he was having medical experts examine the autopsy report in an attempt to determine when Shah Alam developed the ulcer. He added he was appreciative of the Medical Examiner’s office for exercising “independence” in this case.
“I was concerned that there was a possibility that there would be some effort to brush aside the cause of death, but they have taken it head on,” he said.
Connors indicated that his next step in representing Shah Alam’s family is filing a lawsuit.
“Now that we have the medical evidence and the cause of death, we will look into the filing of the necessary documents to hold the individuals and the entities responsible for his death,” he said.
Asked if he blamed Border Patrol for Shah Alam’s death, Connors said he’s “looking at the Border Patrol as well as other entities.”
A spokesperson for Border Patrol did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
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In a statement Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane had opened an investigation into Shah Alam’s death.
“As more details of this case emerge, I want to be crystal clear: Every individual involved in the death of Mr. Shah Alam must be held fully accountable,” Hochul said. “To ensure a fair and impartial investigation, the Erie County District Attorney must continue his investigation and, if warranted by the evidence, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
It was not immediately clear what or who Keane’s probe was focused on. Spokespeople for his office and Hochul did not immediately return requests for comment.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has also opened an inquiry into Shah Alam’s death. Her office has indicated its target is the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.
“Mr. Shah Alam fled genocide to build a life in this country. Instead, he was abandoned and left to suffer alone in his final hours,” James said in a statement Wednesday. “No New Yorker should be treated this way. My office is continuing our review of the circumstances and treatment that led to Mr. Shah Alam’s death.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy said the Medical Examiner’s ruling should result in newly-confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordering “an independent and transparent investigation.” He added that Mullin’s agency should cooperate with James’ probe.
“Mr. Shah Alam would be alive today with his family if he had access to medical care,” Kennedy said. “Instead, he was callously abandoned on a cold winter night by Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.”
Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane said his office had requested a copy of the autopsy and would “review the findings.”
Shah Alam, born in Myanmar (formerly called Burma), arrived in Buffalo as a refugee with his wife and two of his five sons in December 2024. The resettlement agency Jewish Family Services placed them in a home in Riverside. On February 15, 2025, Shah Alam, depressed and sick of the cold, ventured outside for a walk around his new neighborhood. Nearly blind, his attorneys and family have said he purchased a curtain rod to use as a guide stick.
While on his walk, Shah Alam got lost and ended up in the backyard of a house on Tonawanda Street. According to a police report, the couple residing there alleged Shah Alam allowed the dog to escape and had damaged their shed.
Upon arrival, Buffalo police ordered Shah Alam, who spoke little to no English, to drop his curtain rod. When he did not, police Tasered, tackled and punched him as they attempted to handcuff him. In the struggle, Shah Alam bit the two female officers who had responded to the call. Shah Alam was charged with felony assault, trespassing and possession of a weapon, his curtain rod.
Shah Alam spent the next year locked up in the Erie County Holding Center. His attorneys and family said they opted to not bail him out because they feared ICE would detain him out of state and possibly deport him. If he remained in jail, they could at least visit him, they reasoned.
Finally, in February, Keane’s office agreed to drop most of the charges against Shah Alam. He pleaded guilty to trespassing and possession of a weapon – the curtain rod. One of his attorneys confirmed with ICE’s lawyers that those offenses would not subject him to detention or deportation.
Shah Alam was set to be released February 19. His son and attorney waited hours for him in a car outside the Holding Center. His wife said she was preparing clothes and a meal for him at home. It being Ramadan, she said she’d hoped the family could break the daily fast together.
Instead, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office transferred Shah Alam to the custody of Border Patrol, which had placed a detainer on him. A sheriff’s spokesperson told Investigative Post his office did not notify Shah Alam’s family or attorney that they’d done so.
Border Patrol did not keep Shah Alam in its custody for long – about four hours. After determining he “was not amenable to removal” agents drove Shah Alam to the Tim Hortons on the 2200 block of Niagara Street.
According to video obtained by Investigative Post, a Border Patrol van dropped off Shah Alam shortly after 8 p.m. A spokesperson said agents did so because the coffee shop had been determined to be a “warm, safe location.” The restaurant, however, was closed. Only the drive thru was open. In the video, Shah Alam can be seen walking past the drive thru window. He was wearing orange booties issued to him by the Holding Center.
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Benjamin Macaluso, one of Shah Alam’s lawyers, said he assumed ICE had taken his client to the detention center in Batavia. When he couldn’t find him there, he and the family began searching around the city. Over the weekend, after Shah Alam had been missing for more than 48 hours, Macaluso filed a missing persons report with the Buffalo police.
The case was assigned to Detective Richard Hy on Monday the 23rd. In recent video podcasts, Hy said he assumed Shah Alam was in ICE custody and told Macaluso he planned to close the case. Hy said authorities began searching for Shah Alam after a three- to four-hour delay after Macaluso informed him he was operating on incorrect information.
The efforts were too little too late. Shah Alam was found dead the following day on Perry Street near KeyBank Center. It remains unknown how or when he traveled from the Tim Hortons to downtown.
In the weeks since, international outrage has followed Shah Alam’s death.
Poloncarz on Wednesday said Shah Alam’s death “should not have happened.”
“His death could have been prevented,” Poloncarz said. “I wish he was here today but he’s not.”
Meghan Maloney de Zaldivar, vice president of advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition, said: “The circumstances surrounding his death are deeply disturbing and demand a full investigation, including ensuring that the relevant officers at the Erie County Sheriff’s Department and Border Patrol are held responsible for the actions that led to his death. The ruling of a homicide confirms what we know to be true: Border Patrol is a cruel lawless agency and we must stop funneling our community members to their cruelty.”
posted 6 hours ago – April 1, 2026